This turned out to be a bit of an information dump, and I should prolly revise for clarity, but instead I will pin my simple easy post hoc thesis statement, now that I've figured out what it shoulda been:
1) Duffy blames Joe Biden for air traffic control problems that have arisen over decades because "budget hawk" Republicans in Congress refused to fund upgrades and maintenance.
2) Biden actually began to fix many of them, but it was only a down payment, because see #1.
3) Duffy's "plan" is actually just cribbed from an FAA wishlist that COULD work, because the FAA really knows what it needs.
4) But no way in hell will it get finished in 3 years
5) It all depends on Congress funding it, which it won't, because see #1.
One airport in three years is plausible. I mean, I have doubts, but it is a thing that could in theory be achieved.
The entire set of FAA infrastructure in three years is so far beyond impossible that words fail.
To find an outcome like this somewhere in the infinite multiverse would mean traveling so many billions of planes over that whatever lives there certainly bears no resemblance to humans.
These people have inflicted decades of damage in under six months. Which is pretty terrible considering we're somewhere between 4 and 6 trillion dollars in the hole on infrastructure maintenance already...
This is why bills getting passed, even a so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill, gets a collective shrug from the public. You'd think passing it would mean it's a done deal. But no, now we have to *fund it*, and we're going to throw all kinds of sand in the gears to prevent that. So nothing means anything.
Lots of things were fully funded. All the tens of thousands of GS positions which have been slashed were fully funded. Head start was fully funded. PBS and USAID were fully funded. So I don’t see that as an impediment to the enfuckening.
Or possibly he needs to be forced through a standard domestic in-sink garbage disposal with the help of a large hydraulic press. That might work equally well.
Boilerplate republican tightwad/lack of foresight/ stupid shit, not wanting to fund stuff that later on fails, then they blame it on the Dems. Always happens
How many planes crashed and how many lives lost because ATC and related things are neglected by republican'ts but blamed on Democrats? In related news, this painful hangnail is killing me, thanks Biden!
4) and 5). It's not merely buying gear (and it's required by acquisition law that you use what you buy - no stockpiling gear for long periods), it's installing it at operational control facilities. So people need access, outages require coordination, yadda yadda. So IMO tripling the rate of installs is unlikely. You can't just shut down airports.
And that's not even getting into all it takes to do fiber. FAA has a lot of fiber, but that's a work in progress (slow progress, see Congress). So much trenching is going to be required.
I suspect their desire is to have the taxpayer buy and upgrade the airspace, and then they'll privatize it.
If I lived in Newark I would be pissed. First they open up an ICE detention center right there and arrest the mayor when he goes there to protest, then they make Newark the most unsafe airport in the country. Yeah, MAGA!
Ta, Dok. Neither my beloved nor I shall embark on an airplane until this maladministration is long gone. I have never feared flying (in fact, I often enjoy it), but I don't trust these assholes at all.
Did DOGE yank any of the money appropriated in the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law?
(I know, DOGE can't do that legally. But I also know they did it and so far have gotten away with it elsewhere. That is the context of my question.)
Agree totally, Dok, that extra funding to speed this all up will not happen in the FY26 appropriations. The rhetoric from the GOP is very far away from that place right now.
The National Airspace System upgrade (dubbed NexGen) has been underway since 2007 and was slated to be done in 2030. https://www.faa.gov/nextgen
There are three basic problems. Congressional budgets are annual and at most can be appropriated for two years. Continuity of purpose and funding plaques everything in the country and always has.
The requirements are a moving target as various technologies emerge and mature. In 2007 people watched movies on DVDs.
The physical infrastructure upgrade is akin to building the plane while you are flying it.
Fast. Cheap. Good. With government contracts (and really any contract) you get two out of three. If you want “good and fast,” you better be prepared to pay a fuckton for it. I’m guessing they’ll go the “fast and cheap” route, which will of course sacrifice any degree of quality. Don’t plan to fly in or out of Newark for a while.
The Fast, Cheap, Good paradigm is a thing in any sort of project management involving systems implementation or upgrades. If you try to get all three at once, you'll end up losing two, and sometimes all three. Of these sorts of things, Breach of Contract lawsuits are made.
And yeah, I'm glad I came off the road permanently in the early 2000s. Wife told me after 9/11 that I could do ONE more job and then I had to find work near home.
Mitch said "infrastructure isn't sexy" but ya know, I think it's more that Republicans are really really into disaster porn, that's why they keep going for conspiracies that really everything is a disaster and don't do anything about infrastructure until things are falling apart.
Why not ask Ukraine to do it? They managed to check together an effective aircraft defence systems against "the world's 2nd best military" on personal cellphones in a matter of weeks under enemy bombardment & invasion. We could pay them in weapons they desperately that we have sitting around ready to drop on Gaza
That's why FElon's jet (with him in it) needs to be "accidentally" flown into one with a congressional junket flight to Bali to "investigate" the sex trade.
This turned out to be a bit of an information dump, and I should prolly revise for clarity, but instead I will pin my simple easy post hoc thesis statement, now that I've figured out what it shoulda been:
1) Duffy blames Joe Biden for air traffic control problems that have arisen over decades because "budget hawk" Republicans in Congress refused to fund upgrades and maintenance.
2) Biden actually began to fix many of them, but it was only a down payment, because see #1.
3) Duffy's "plan" is actually just cribbed from an FAA wishlist that COULD work, because the FAA really knows what it needs.
4) But no way in hell will it get finished in 3 years
5) It all depends on Congress funding it, which it won't, because see #1.
One airport in three years is plausible. I mean, I have doubts, but it is a thing that could in theory be achieved.
The entire set of FAA infrastructure in three years is so far beyond impossible that words fail.
To find an outcome like this somewhere in the infinite multiverse would mean traveling so many billions of planes over that whatever lives there certainly bears no resemblance to humans.
These people have inflicted decades of damage in under six months. Which is pretty terrible considering we're somewhere between 4 and 6 trillion dollars in the hole on infrastructure maintenance already...
Republican Budget Hawks, as ever, are the reason we can't have nice things.
Everything looks like a field mouse to a budget hawk.
Best part: "like when Congressman Sean Duffy voted against funding to strengthen the FAA."
I wonder if anyone has explained to him yet he's stuck fixing the thing he refused to fix years ago.
This is why bills getting passed, even a so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill, gets a collective shrug from the public. You'd think passing it would mean it's a done deal. But no, now we have to *fund it*, and we're going to throw all kinds of sand in the gears to prevent that. So nothing means anything.
Yes/No: the BIL was fully funded, but nobody pretended it would solve all problems for all time.
Lots of things were fully funded. All the tens of thousands of GS positions which have been slashed were fully funded. Head start was fully funded. PBS and USAID were fully funded. So I don’t see that as an impediment to the enfuckening.
This is why Trump needs a third term to fix these problems.
PERISH the thought.
PERISH PAB.
The Orange Oaf needs a third term in ADX Florence.
/ Because Florence, and also and too the most super supermax penitentiary.
Or possibly he needs to be forced through a standard domestic in-sink garbage disposal with the help of a large hydraulic press. That might work equally well.
Boilerplate republican tightwad/lack of foresight/ stupid shit, not wanting to fund stuff that later on fails, then they blame it on the Dems. Always happens
This is a physical law.
How many planes crashed and how many lives lost because ATC and related things are neglected by republican'ts but blamed on Democrats? In related news, this painful hangnail is killing me, thanks Biden!
Thanks, Obama!
It was the tan suit which done it.
4) and 5). It's not merely buying gear (and it's required by acquisition law that you use what you buy - no stockpiling gear for long periods), it's installing it at operational control facilities. So people need access, outages require coordination, yadda yadda. So IMO tripling the rate of installs is unlikely. You can't just shut down airports.
And that's not even getting into all it takes to do fiber. FAA has a lot of fiber, but that's a work in progress (slow progress, see Congress). So much trenching is going to be required.
I suspect their desire is to have the taxpayer buy and upgrade the airspace, and then they'll privatize it.
FIber is indeed a problem.
I spend a veritable fortune on psyllium capsules.
Dok, FWIW, that was all crystal-clear to me the first time I read it.
"Duffy blamed Joe Biden for all the problems in Newark and Philadelphia, complaining that the existing system was a 'lemon.'"
Plan: wait until something breaks on your watch and then blame someone else.
Mission accomplished. : /
“The buck stops over there”.
I couldn't face myself if I spent all my time blaming other people for my problems.
See, that's what having a sense of shame gets ya. You need to get rid of that.
There's been times it's held me back.
SOP for MAGA Republicans.
Exactly, and the ability to play budget chicken at that level is what made Biden good at his job.
Too bad that experience is a bad thing (as is expertise)
I’ve probably told you I worked on a campaign with the slogan “it takes experience to bring about change.” We won.
Really appreciate the pinball comment!
Situation Normal, All Trumped Up.
SNATU.
My go to.
If I lived in Newark I would be pissed. First they open up an ICE detention center right there and arrest the mayor when he goes there to protest, then they make Newark the most unsafe airport in the country. Yeah, MAGA!
getting so tired of hearing about "transparency"with these people, do they think we were all born yesterday?
Ta, Dok. Neither my beloved nor I shall embark on an airplane until this maladministration is long gone. I have never feared flying (in fact, I often enjoy it), but I don't trust these assholes at all.
Well then, "Thanks, Joe-bama!" With the Republicans, it's ALWAYS someone else's fault.
Did DOGE yank any of the money appropriated in the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law?
(I know, DOGE can't do that legally. But I also know they did it and so far have gotten away with it elsewhere. That is the context of my question.)
Agree totally, Dok, that extra funding to speed this all up will not happen in the FY26 appropriations. The rhetoric from the GOP is very far away from that place right now.
They can't blame it on Congress or they won't get their "billions of dollars". Nice, concise budget request, BTW.
The National Airspace System upgrade (dubbed NexGen) has been underway since 2007 and was slated to be done in 2030. https://www.faa.gov/nextgen
There are three basic problems. Congressional budgets are annual and at most can be appropriated for two years. Continuity of purpose and funding plaques everything in the country and always has.
The requirements are a moving target as various technologies emerge and mature. In 2007 people watched movies on DVDs.
The physical infrastructure upgrade is akin to building the plane while you are flying it.
I hear tell - saw it in a cartoon, actually - that Trump**(*) is going to rename the San Andreas Fault to "Joe Biden's Fault."
Fast. Cheap. Good. With government contracts (and really any contract) you get two out of three. If you want “good and fast,” you better be prepared to pay a fuckton for it. I’m guessing they’ll go the “fast and cheap” route, which will of course sacrifice any degree of quality. Don’t plan to fly in or out of Newark for a while.
The Fast, Cheap, Good paradigm is a thing in any sort of project management involving systems implementation or upgrades. If you try to get all three at once, you'll end up losing two, and sometimes all three. Of these sorts of things, Breach of Contract lawsuits are made.
And yeah, I'm glad I came off the road permanently in the early 2000s. Wife told me after 9/11 that I could do ONE more job and then I had to find work near home.
Mitch said "infrastructure isn't sexy" but ya know, I think it's more that Republicans are really really into disaster porn, that's why they keep going for conspiracies that really everything is a disaster and don't do anything about infrastructure until things are falling apart.
Why not ask Ukraine to do it? They managed to check together an effective aircraft defence systems against "the world's 2nd best military" on personal cellphones in a matter of weeks under enemy bombardment & invasion. We could pay them in weapons they desperately that we have sitting around ready to drop on Gaza
I'm not sure Congress will get behind "lots of billions" for ATC upgrades when that could go towards tax cuts for the wealthy.
That's why FElon's jet (with him in it) needs to be "accidentally" flown into one with a congressional junket flight to Bali to "investigate" the sex trade.
Money will be found quickly to remedy the issue.
However, thousands of flights landed safely yesterday, thanks to the wisdom and goodness of President Donald J. Trump. Gawd, this bullshit is tedious.